Do I have to take a tour?New Jersey law requires that visitors to production breweries like Lower Forge Brewery must take a tour before consuming any beer on premises. This tour has to take place during each visit, and there are fines for breweries that violate this law. If you are coming in to pick up cans, bottles, or a growler to drink elsewhere – a tour is not required. Our brewers understand the frustration that this mandate sometimes creates, and we try to make each tour and each visit interesting with new facts about beers in production, techniques we’re using to develop flavorful beers, or things that have happened since your last visit – make sure you let us know when you arrive that you’ve been here before so we can provide an update that is interesting and still satisfies the state requirements.

I’ve taken a thousand tours, do I really have to take a tour?Unfortunately, you really have to take a tour under the state law. Even when fellow brewers visit us, we have to provide a tour to satisfy the requirements. However, this doesn’t mean we have to bore you – let us know what interests you such as fermentation science, our fermentation starters, our spent grain recycling, our yeast harvesting program, or so much more. Our tours are setup to educate each visitor on our processes and brewery – so if you’ve heard “this is our hot liquor tank, mash tun, and kettle” a thousand times – let us know that you’d like to ask about a specific brewing topic as part of your tour.

Do you serve food, or am I allowed to bring my own?Under the New Jersey laws governing production breweries, Lower Forge is not allowed to prepare or sell food for consumers. Because of this, we encourage BYOF (bring-your-own-food) in our Sampling Room. Next to the brewery is ITA 101, across the street is the Pop Shop Medford, and through Medford are more than a dozen restaurants that will deliver your meal to you at the brewery. We also have many visitors that choose to pick up on their way to Lower Forge, everything from Wawa hoagies to premium fare from a deli such as Cugini’s. We believe that the best way to experience our beers is paired with great food, so make your own BYOF plans with your next Lower Forge visit.

Can I hold my event or a private tasting at Lower Forge Brewery?Absolutely! We love hosting private tastings and events for groups, teams, and organizations of all sizes. Find out more about planning an event at Lower Forge at our private event planning page.

Is your brewery family friendly?We love hosting families who are visiting Medford or exploring New Jersey’s Craft Breweries. We have complimentary WiFi for devices as well as soda, sparkling water, and other non-alcoholic choices for family members. Craft breweries such as ours are a different environment than bars, and we commonly tell our visitors during tours that we’re closer to an interesting factory with a pretty cool gift shop than a typical bar environment. We also love explaining to families about how the science behind our craft brewing had its roots in the chemistry and biology classes of our youth (to help encourage the future brewers that visit us).

Is your brewery dog friendly?Dogs & craft breweries seem to be culturally tied, hand-in-hand. Our rules at Lower Forge are that well-behaved dogs are permitted to accompany their owners at the discretion of management. For their own safety and to comply with Burlington County health codes, dogs are not permitted past the door to the brewhouse.

Is there a dress code or are reservations required at Lower Forge?No, we’re still not sure how this started – but no reservations are required and we’re happy to welcome anyone, whether casual or formal, at Lower Forge.

What is the Committee of 250 membership program?
The Committee of 250 is a paid limited membership group that enjoys access to private events such as tastings, beer design sessions, music events, artistic showcases, and much more. It’s like a “backstage pass” to our brewery and the things we do to prepare, present, and share our beer locally and throughout New Jersey.

How does the Lower Forge Brewery Loyalty Program work?Everytime you visit our Sampling Room, you’re invited to provide your phone number or email address on our Square Point-of-Sale system. For each visit and for sampling certain things, our system will reward you with a star. Each star counts towards rewards ranging from a free 4 oz taster of beer following your tour to free merchandise to a free flight of four on a following visit. Read the email that accompanies signing up after your first star for more details on the your progress towards these cool rewards.

Can I bring in my Growlers to be filled?Lower Forge will fill any growlers with the required government warning and volume statements from our own brewery as well as many of the other craft breweries. For standard growlers missing parts of the requirements, we have labels and tags that will bring your growler into compliance. For stainless steel or enclosed growlers, our management reserves the right to fill-by-weight based on an empty measurement and filled measurement.

I have a question that isn’t answered here, where can I ask you?If you think of something, fill out our contact form online or call the brewery at (609) 975-9532. If we get a question often enough, it’ll be added to this page in the future.

Tours before Pours

The New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control requires us to provide a tour of our brewery before we can pour samples for you during your visit.(New Jersey Statutes Title 33 :1-10)

Search

Search for:

Brewery Open to the Public

Thursday : 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Friday : 4:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Saturday : 2:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Sunday : 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Getting to Our Brewery

About Our Brewery

Lower Forge Brewery is Medford, New Jersey’s original Craft Beer Brewery – Independently Owned and Located at 14 South Main Street.

We’re proud to brew unique, original beers in a variety of styles both traditional and experimental. Our beer is available on tap in our retail sampling room, at local bars & restaurants, and at local retailers.